Pita bread is a common staple in middle eastern countries and in recent years has enjoyed considerable and increasing popularity in other areas of the world. This popularity is due in part to the convenience of using pita bread for making a sandwich since the bread, when torn, forms a pocket which may be filled with meat, cheese, and other edible material.
In its most common form pita bread is in the shape of a large flat pancake, typically four to eight inches in diameter and one eighth to three eighths inches in thickness. Because of the process used in baking the pita bread, this flat disk actually comprises two outer layers or skins which are easily separated by the user.
Typically, the user will make a sandwich by tearing the pita bread in half, forming two semi-disks which can each be used to make a sandwich. Alternatively, the pita bread may be torn, cut, or otherwise severed to form a large and small disk segment, with the large disk segment being used to make a sandwich. Finally, not uncommonly, the pita bread may be cut or torn along one circular edge so that the entire pita bread may be filled with edible material to make a larger sandwich.
The double layer form which is characteristic of pita bread results from a baking process which is likewise characteristic of pita bread. In this process a ball of dough is rolled to form a large flat dough disk, not unlike a large pancake in appearance. The disk is baked in an extremely hot oven, typically in excess of 500.degree. fahrenheit on a flat support surface. This rapid baking process causes the bread dough to initially sear and to thus seal the top, bottom, and edge surfaces of the dough disk. The dough in the central portion of the pita then bakes and, as a consequence of the baking process, liberates gas and steam from the dough. This gas and steam creates pressure within the dough disk which inflates the disk. Since the gas is unable to escape through the sealed perifory of the disk, this inflating process separates the upper and lower surfaces of the disk form so that during the baking process the pita bread resembles an inflated football. This inflation continues until the pita is filled to capacity with steam and gas and the pita then ruptures at its weakest surface location so that additional steam and gas created by the continuing baking process can escape.
At the completion of the baking process the pita bread is allowed to cool. As the gasses within the pita bread cool and continue to escape through the rupture in the pita skin, the pita again assumes a flat, pancake-like appearance. However, since throughout most of the baking process the two skins of the pita bread are separated by the expanded form of the dough during baking, the pita bread, in its final form, has a distinct upper and lower layer.
A common use for pita bread is the formation of a sandwich. Typically, a user will tear the pita bread in half, forming two semi-disks of dough. These semi-disks will have a relatively straight edge on one side, exposing the two distinct layers of the pita bread, and will have a sealed semi-circular remaining edge. The user can then separate the layers along the torn or cut straight edge and spread these layers, forming a pocket with the pita bread half. Edible material such as meats, cheeses, etc, may be stuffed into the open pocket to form a sandwich. One reason for the popularity of this type of pita sandwich is the fact that the pita bread half forms a natural pouch which is relatively durable and thus not likely to spill when the sandwich is eaten, and which also has less bread than more common sandwiches, thus yielding a lower calorie sandwich.
Alternatively, sandwiches are typically formed with pita bread by cutting or tearing the pita bread at locations other than along its diameter. For example, it is not uncommon to form a sandwich by tearing along a cord of the pita disk removed from the diameter to form a large pocket segment and a small pocket segment, the large pocket segment used to make a single, larger sandwich from the pita bread. In addition, it is not uncommon to cut or tear the pita bread along a circular line following a portion of the circumference of the pita bread to make a single, large pocket from the entire pita bread, and thus a large sandwich.
Because the location of the baking-induced rupture in the pita bread is unpredictable, occurring at the weakest surface of the pita bread during the baking process, sandwiches formed in the above described manners virtually always include a rupture. Even when the pita bread is torn in half to make two sandwich pouches, one of these sandwich pouches will include a baking-induced rupture. The rupture may also occur across the tear or cutting line when the sandwich is made, leaving a torn edge at which the stresses induced during the sandwich making process will commonly cause further tearing and an unsightly sandwich. The rupture in the pita bread, of course, provides a location where sandwich filling material can easily leak or fall from the pita bread pocket and also causes a stress concentration point where further tearing of the natural pouch is likely. These undesirable results are a natural consequence of the pita baking process and have reduced, to some extent, the attractiveness of pita bread as a sandwich encapsulater.
An additional disadvantage of typical pita bread is the fact that, unless the bread is cut with a knife, tearing of the pita bread typically creates an uneven edge which follows the weak portions of the bread's surface. This increases the difficulty in making a neat appearing sandwich or pair of sandwiches from pita bread.